After breakfast, they all got busy with their work.
Ye Yang took his farming tools and went to the farm. Ye Liu and Ye Mo went to Li Wazi’s house and got Aunt Li and Little Lian to come over. The, Li Wazi and the two men set off to purchase tomatoes.
Liu Duo and the rest were making tomato sauce at home. “Ling, get the fire going. We have to boil these in the pot for a while. It makes removing the peel easier.”
“Alright,” Ye Ling got up to use the flint.
Previously, when they had been preparing the bamboo shoots, they already had quite a number of wooden tubs at home. They used the same ones to hold the tomatoes.
Liu Duo sliced the onions, while Liu Ran peeled garlic, both of which were ingredients for the sauce.
“Sis, why don’t I cut the onions while you peel the garlic,” Liu Ran offered, seeing how she was tearing up. He thought it best to switch roles with her.
Tilting her head, she wiped away her tears and shook her head, “No need. This isn’t a tough job.”
Ye Ling walked over after setting up the fire. Gently, he took over Liu Duo’s kitchen knife, “Duo Er, I’ll cut. You keep an eye on the fire.”
Ye Ling didn’t want her to continue in such a tearful state.
The knife was taken, so Liu Duo didn’t hesitate to let him have it.
She went over once to check on the fire, before grabbing another kitchen knife and another chopping board. “Ran Er, you peel the garlic over there and watch the fire, I’ll chop the garlic over here.”
He nodded and moved over to the stove.
The three of them managed to set up a work system. When Aunt Li and Little Lian arrived, they were tasked with peeling the tomatoes.
“Sister Duo, do we fry this in the pot after peeling the skin?” Little Lian asked curiously.
She saw her and Ye Ling chopping onions and garlic, so she deduced that they were going to fry them together.
“Not frying, we’re boiling! Peel the skin, discard the stem, chop into pieces, and toss into the pot. Then we leave it to boil, just like the way we make porridge, and we wait until it thickens. After that, add a proper amount of sugar, lemon essence, onion, and garlic, and leave it to boil. That’s how tomato sauce is made.”
She described the whole process to them patiently.
Aunt Li asked, “Girl, how did you come up with this?”
She believed Liu Duo was like a lucky star that had come to the Ye brothers. Last time, she had thought of removing the bamboo shoots’ bitter taste, and now she was making tomato sauce. Their financial situation had slowly improved, and eventually even Little Lian’s family had reaped the benefits.
Liu Duo was their lucky star too!
Liu Duo laughed at the question, “Because I’m so smart that these ideas just came to me! Haha…”
The rest of the gang laughed as she boasted unapologetically.
They chattered as they worked. A hundred jin could take some time.
When the first pot of tomato sauce was completed, Liu Duo sampled some. It was exactly as she remembered. She couldn’t help but smile at the result.
“Ling, come get a taste of this,” Liu Duo fetched a spoonful for them.
Each person who tasted the product was just as surprised as the next. “Delicious!” they said.
The tomato sauce tasted much different from the tomato fruit they were so familiar with.
It was much better than eating it raw. It was both sour and sweet, but in a different way.
“That’s how it’s supposed to be! I’m sure it’ll sell just as well as the bamboo shoots did. Let’s just wait for the money!” she grinned broadly.
They filtered the tomato sauce through a funnel while it was still hot, and it dropped into the container, where they later poured some oil on it.
They kept busy until noon at which point it was time for lunch, so they stopped. Ye Yang and the rest also returned from their work.
